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Weyrlingmaster Shona
Lady T hrn212@nyu.edu

 

Common Knowledge: Some of Shona’s quirky personality traits are common knowledge. The volume of her voice when she gets excited or tired is well known, and sometimes laughed at. Her idea of doing whatever you wish, so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, is also common knowledge. There are those that agree, but many who probably disagree with it. She is also known as someone who says strange things (uses strange slang), looks different, and behaves differently. People either like her for her eccentricities or hate her for them. Very few people have no opinion about her at all, and everyone knows that she is by no means a neutral person.

For those few people that really know Shona well, it’s obvious she’s misunderstood by most people. People like to put Shona into a single category, and she doesn’t really fit in one. They call her ‘rebel,’ ‘rabble-rouser,’ ‘talker,’ or some word that describes a single aspect of her personality and cling to the label tightly. Only her few good friends understand that she hates such titles and just how wrong most of them are. There are plenty of rumors running around about Shona; that she has never slept with anyone outside of a flight, that she’s pregnant, that she’s so sweet it’s sick, that she’s so mean she must be abusing the Weyrlings. Most people have probably heard one or more of these rumors, though whether any of them are true is completely unknown.

 

Character Name: Shona

Birthdate (age): 07.04.3290 (30)

Gender: Female

Birthplace: Small hold outside of Igen Hold (IH)
Current Location: Last Hope Weyr


Family:
Family: Father – Shinrain, Steward, Pioneer Hold, 66

Mother – Linnora, Sr. Journeyman Cook, PH, 65

Sister – Minra, Support Staff, PH, 27



Physical Description: Shona stands at 5’3” and weighs 175 lbs. She is rather buxom for a dragonrider. Much of her weight is just fat that she can’t seem to get rid of. As a rider, though, she also has quite a bit of muscle. Mostly fat seems to stick in her thighs, hips, and bottom; though that does give this fierce woman at least some physical softness. Shona has medium sized, round, hazel eyes that look more brown than green. She had dirty blonde hair that she is constantly changing in style and length. Her skin is rather pale, except where it is constantly hit by the sun, where it is tan.

Shona wears comfortable clothing most of the time. This is not only because they are comfortable, but also because comfortable clothing tends to hide her body more. She might not be too large now, but before she stood as a Candidate, she was even more on the larger side. She does own a good dress for Gathers and such, and only wears it when necessary. While her clothes are comfortable, she has managed to get quite a few piercing on her ears and one through her nose. Most people wonder just what the heck she was thinking, but she rather likes them. She has some of the cheapest silver metal in all the holes in her ears (that’s 6 in each ear) as well as a smaller one in her nose.


Personality: Shona is good at taking control of or leading a group of people. That is, she’s good at it when she feels like she rightfully should take control. For example, she’s great at commanding the Weyrlings (or will be as soon as there are any). That’s her job, so with that justification in mind she can use her natural talent of leadership to help guide the Weyrlings. However, if she were in a situation where she was surrounded by her peers, basically other dragonriders, and a leader was called for, Shona would probably defer to someone else. Part of it is a rather big insecurity about her own abilities when it is put into even the most remote comparison with her peers, especially when it’s an opportunity for her to judge herself. Shona really is her own worst critic. This is mostly due to her childhood just outside of Igen Hold.

As a teenager Shona was extremely shy and constantly questioned her own worth, partly because most people put her down as a child. While she’s gotten beyond that now, there is still that residual nagging feeling that she really isn’t cut out for her rank and position. So while she is excellent at taking control and leading the Weyrlings, there is always this nagging feeling that she isn’t as good at it as she thinks she is. Usually she just pushes the feeling aside as an irrational product of life in a small hold. When she is feeling particularly depressed, or picked-on, however, Shona sometimes lets that nagging feeling become a full thought. And every once in awhile she does believe she can’t do her duties. The thought and feelings usually pass quickly, but it is still there.

She’s quite opinionated, and will explain her opinions to just about anyone who will listen. Her opinions tend to be quite radical too, including such ideas as: gender shouldn’t determine what color dragon you have, not all lower ranking people are stupid, the plague wasn’t the dragonriders’ fault, and of course her personal philosophy of “do anything, just don’t hurt anyone.” Of course, Shona doesn’t just go out and spout her ideas to everyone randomly; the conversation has to start. If she and someone else were sitting around talking about their ideas and opinions, Shona will add her own ideas without reservation.

She might worry that others will judge her when it comes to her taking charge or taking action, but when it comes to discussion Shona doesn’t care. If you disagree with her opinions, she generally thinks you are just an ignorant fool. Unfortunately, this means she can be a bit abrasive. If you only talk to Shona about her opinions and you happen to disagree with them, chances are you won’t like her too much. On the plus side, though, Shona does reevaluate and change her own opinions constantly. She isn’t above learning and modifying her own ideas, just so long as she does it herself and it isn’t forced on her.

Shona has a very loud voice and tends to talk quite a bit. This loud voice is good when it comes to getting someone’s attention. Unfortunately it also means that she can seem like she’s yelling when really she’s just talking. Also, sometimes people get a bit annoyed at her loud voice. When she gets excited, she tends to talk faster and louder.

Shona is also a hard and dedicated work. When she has a task or job, she finishes it quickly and as perfectly as she can. She likes to do things right the first time, instead of having to do things over and over. She’s a bit of a perfectionist, which can annoy people. She might sometimes fix a tilted painting, or actually count how many chunks of firestone are in her sacks to make sure there’s an even number on each side, and that can get on people’s nerves. But she laughs about the silly eccentricities of making things even and that aren’t important. When it comes to being a perfectionist in her work, in things that she considers really important, she doesn’t laugh about it. Instead she expects others to strive for the same perfection she does. This can cause problems, though only if one of her Weyrlings is lazy.

Shona is a generally cheerful person, usually laughing at all but the worst tragedies and the biggest annoyances. Even when she’s annoyed she’ll generally laugh about it later, or at least see the humor in the annoying situation. Great tragedies in her life don’t really get the sort of laughter other situations do. And when she finds something amusing, she’ll laugh whole-heartedly every time. It’s gotten her some ridicule over the turns, but she doesn’t stop. If something amusing to her, she’ll laugh.

When Shona is annoyed or angry with someone she knows and considers an equal, she’ll generally yell at them, shout, or at the very least speak angrily. The more comfortable Shona feels around someone the more she’ll let them see her angry and emotional side. In other words, if she knows someone well, she’ll censer herself less and less. However, when she’s angry or annoyed with a stranger, or someone she knows but considers her superior, she’ll just start talking less and less. Her answers will become quick, “Okay,” and “Yes,” etc. You can tell she’s really annoyed when the short answers are spoken before the other person has even finished what they were saying.

If Shona becomes overtired and is still working she also tends to answer with simple, one word answers. Though, if she’s just tired and not annoyed she doesn’t cut the other person short. Instead she’ll wait for the other person to finish talking and will then give a short answer. When she’s really exhausted and still working, Shona stops talking altogether. She’ll nod or shake her head instead of saying anything. If she’s tired and yet relaxed or having fun Shona tends to loose all control over the volume of her voice and excitement she expresses. If she’s enjoying herself while she’s tired, Shona will get louder, and more energetic, until she falls asleep.

Shona’s basic philosophy is ‘don’t hurt other people.’ She basically is okay with anything anyone else does so long as it doesn’t hurt someone else in any way, or have the potential to hurt anyone. She employs this same philosophy with her Weyrling’s behavior. Yes, there are specific rules they must obey that are there to keep them from hurting others. But otherwise, she tells them to use common sense. If anyone had a question about what they should or shouldn’t do, she answers them seriously and heartfelt. She doesn’t like to make others feel stupid. She’ll even answer questions that are asked specifically to be stupid by a ‘class clown’ or some such with the same sincerity. It isn’t that she can’t pick out the questions that are asked as a joke; it’s that she decided to treat them all the same.

Shona is also pretty self-contained, in two senses of the word. Shona can entertain herself quite easily, not needing to rely on the company of others to keep her from getting bored. Yes, Shona loves to be around people, but she doesn’t need to be around people. Part of that is because when she was younger she never really did well in groups of people. She could talk up a storm with one or two other people, but when it came to many people she was always pretty much ignored. People just didn’t like talking about what she talked about; at least not in her home-hold. The other way Shona is self-contained is physically. She doesn’t need very much to get by day-to-day. All Shona needs is a relatively clean pair of clothes and her Enlilleth and she’s set. She might be the Weyrling Master, but that doesn’t mean she needs nice things.

She also loves talking about her work with the Weyrlings. Sometimes that will be all she’ll talk about, relating just about anything anyone else says to the Weyrlings. Similarly, she tells her own story to other people. She has nothing of her history to hide, and will relate stories that other people tell to stories in her own life. Every once in awhile she’ll tell a story that goes on for too long and the listeners lose interest. If that happens, Shona will usually just stop talking, or quietly finish her sentence.

However, Shona doesn’t like gossip. She likes to know what is happening to those people she cares about, and will often discuss such things. But she doesn’t care what latest prank this or that Candidate played, unless it was a particularly ingenious or silly prank. Shona never understood why others like to hear what difficulties others were getting into, whether it was their own fault of not. She never liked hearing bad news and didn’t understand why most people wanted to hear bad news. She knows that there are plenty of rumors and bad sentiments going on about her, but never understood the pleasure those that told them got. She explains all of this to her friends, but to the general Weyr she just ignores the gossip and rumors that fly around about everyone.

In everything except gossip, Shona is extremely curious and inquisitive. She likes to know things, and really would love to know everything if she could. Her dream would be to spend the rest of her life studying each and every craft until she knew everything about all of them. It’s impossible, so she settles with dabbling in each of them whenever she can. She hasn’t lost her childhood curiosity, though she has learned not to ask everyone questions all the time.

All in all, Shona tends to be misunderstood by most people. It isn’t some silly thought left over from her teenage years; it’s just the truth and she knows it. It has taken Shona a long time, but she has finally accepted that most people just won’t understand her, and many people will never try. So she does her best to block out the ignorant people who ask her silly questions or make stupid comments. It hurts her, yes, when she is shown yet more proof that this or that person doesn’t get her, but she’s learned to just deal with that hurt.


History: Shona was born in a small hold just outside of Igen Hold. Her earliest childhood was a completely blissful experience. She was shown nothing but love from both of her parents, and all the adults that ever came across her always thought of her as being quite cute and interesting. “Look at how many words she already knows,” they would say, and “She is so cute!” All the sentiments were quite true. Shona started talking at a very early age, started walking at an early age, and seemed to be interested in everything that went on around her.

Of course, when she would go to lessons with the other children, her constant questions annoyed the Harper. She might sit there and ask something like, “But why did people move to the South in the first place?” And of course the traditional answers never appeased her. She would sit there and continue asking “why,” until the Harper either answered her sufficiently or scolded her and continued on with whatever Teaching Ballad they had previously been singing. Her questions weren’t just directed at the Harper either; the other adults in the hold, including her parents, were equal targets.

One day, in her second turn in lessons, little 5-turn-old Shona asked her mother’s friend, Limra, a rather impossible question. Limra was pregnant, and so Shona asked the obvious question of, “Where does the baby come out?” Limra was quite shocked and answered with something she would say to any 5-turn-old child. It was something to the effect of, “Every woman is born with a special place where the baby will come out.” This answer did not satisfy Shona at all; what Limra had said was obvious. Shona had only ever seen women pregnant and so figured out that women had a place where babies came out of. “But where? Where is it? Can I see it?” Poor Limra had no idea how to handle this, and so again answered Shona in the way she would any other persistent 5-turn-old child. “Go ask your mother.”

Shona took the pregnant woman’s advice and walked right up to her mom and asked boldly, “Mommy, where is Limra’s baby coming out?” Lucky for Shona’s mother, Linnora, Limra had already talked to Linnora about Shona’s strange question. So Linnora was ready for Shona and her question. It was then, at the age of 5, that Shona and her mother had the sex talk. Naturally, Shona thought the whole thing sounded disgusting and had no idea why any woman would ever let a man do that to her. These were the sorts of questions Shona asked all through her childhood. She wanted to know everything, and couldn’t understand why there were some things adults wouldn’t explain to her.

The further along in Shona’s childhood that she got, the more Shona realized her inquisitive nature wasn’t appreciated. Why she couldn’t just sit there and learn the ballads like every other child was a problem the Harper was constantly trying to fix. She would be punished for talking out of turn, or her question simply ignored. All of that, though, couldn’t stop her from asking questions. Finally, the Harper went to Shona’s mother explaining that the young girl was disruptive. After her mother asked her what was going on, Shona explained that she asked too many questions. Her mother, trying to help Shona along as best she could, explained that not everyone liked to answer Shona’s questions all the time. Even the Harper could tire of them. It broke Shona’s innocence to hear that the one person who is supposed to answer her questions might not want to answer them. And it broke Linnora’s heart to know that she’d shattered Shona’s innocent curiosity. Shona didn’t stop asking questions, but she did learn that most people didn’t want her to ask them constantly.

By the time Shona was 9 turns old, the plague had reached Igen. Luckily, by that time, her family had moved to the Southern Continent. Her father had heard about the plague and how it was ravaging the northern part of the continent. As soon as word of its spread further and further south reached Shinrain, he started saving all the marks he could for passage to the Southern Continent. Just weeks before the first case was reported in Igen, Shinrain and his family had left on a ship to Pioneer Hold. They were lucky; no one in the family became ill. Of course, Shona was asking all about the plague and why they moved. This time even her mother didn’t answer her questions. It wasn’t until Shona was much older that she found out the details of the plague.

Shona’s life at Pioneer Hold was very similar to her life in her birthplace. She found more people who tolerated her, and even a few kids who liked her. Even so, she found that most people still hated having to put up with her perfection, curiosity, and general quirkiness. She first tried to pretend she was like all the other kids, but she wasn’t very successful. There were always quirks in her personality that she let through; she didn't realize others would find those particular quirks strange until it was too late. All of this lead to many rumors, which just made her sad. By the time she was Searched by Southern Weyr, Shona had stopped trying to pretend she was just like everyone else. She went to the Weyr a very angry young woman.

At the age of 14 turns, Shona was Searched by a blue dragon at Southern Weyr. Even though the plague wasn’t over yet, her parents let her go. It wasn’t as if she’d be any safer staying at the Hold, and at least at the Weyr she might be able to find someone who would appreciate her, and not treat her as an overcurious young woman. When Shona left Pioneer Hold, she was angry and frustrated. She shunned everyone, closing herself off from other people. Her experience in the past was that her peers didn’t understand her and would ridicule her. Again rumors were circulated, and Shona did nothing to contradict them. People could say what they would, and she just pretended she didn’t care.

However, the longer she spent at the Weyr the more she realized that not everyone at the Weyr disliked a curious perfectionist with a quirky personality. Yes, the general consensus was that she was strange. But there were a few people who really did like her, once they got to know her. She found that she actually could make friends here at the Weyr, and that helped bring her back to her old cheerful self. In time, Shona left most of that pent up anger behind, though she didn’t free herself from her past completely.

When she received the news that the plague was finally cured, 21-turn-old Shona immediately packed up and headed for Pioneer Hold. She had to see her parents, if only for a short time, just to celebrate. They had all made it out okay; none of them had died. After two days at Pioneer Hold, Shona headed back to the Weyr, back to her new home. She wouldn’t stay at the Hold; she had found that she liked Weyr-life too much for that. Even if she never Impressed, which was probable, she would stay at the Weyr.

As it turned out, 2 turns later Shona would Impress. There was a queen egg on the sands, and Shona stood with the other girls waiting anxiously. She was getting up there in age, and she really hoped she would get a dragon. As it happened, the gold never hatched. While most of the Weyr mourned the gold dud, Shona was too happy celebrating her Impression of brown Enlilleth to care. She hadn’t even been facing Enlilleth when the brown suddenly head-butted her. She nearly fell over, but caught her balance and turned around. ((I’m Enlilleth and I’m hungry,)) he said demandingly. Tears sprang to Shona’s eyes, something that doesn’t happen often, and she bent down to pet his head. “Oh of course, Enlilleth. We’ll get you fed right away.” She and the little brown were led off for Enlilleth to be fed, Shona in an almost daze. It was by far the happiest day of her life.

Immediately after she Impressed Enlilleth, her life took on a familiar turn. Again Shona was considered an outside, an oddity, and to some an impossibility. There were those who didn’t even want her to be allowed to train Enlilleth with the other dragons. It was bad enough some of the other young women Impressed blues, but Shona had gone one step further. She had Impressed a brown, and some considered that a personal offence. Yet again Shona was faced with glares, whispers, and misunderstanding. Luckily, Shona was completely used to all of it, and so she handled her odd Weyrlinghood quite well.

In fact, Shona and Enlilleth were excellent Weyrlings. Shona’s perfection paid off, and she and Enlilleth would often exceed expectations, and would always at least meet them. She pushed Enlilleth to do his best, constantly explaining that they had to be better than everyone else. “If we’re going to get respect, we have to show we’re better than even the few dragons and riders that are left.” It took awhile, but eventually Enlilleth understood and would push himself to do his best. They ended up being one of the top pairs of their very small Weyrling class.

Three turns after Enlilleth hatched, when Shona was 25 1/2, the earthshakes happened. It was pure luck that she and Enlilleth survived; they happened to be in the air at the time. As they were flying toward the Weyr they saw the whole ground start to rattle, and the buildings come tumbling down. As soon as the shaking stopped, Enlilleth landed and Shona and the brown started to clear whatever they could. They wanted to rescue as many people as possible. As it happened, they did find a few people and they helped them out; none of them were dragonriders though. At the end of it, it was determined that there were only 18 dragonriders left on Pern. Shona was glad there were at least 18 left, and at least thread wasn’t falling. Of course Shona didn’t voice her own optimistic thoughts. She and the others rebuilt the Weyr, and it was renamed Last Hope Weyr. It really was Pern’s last hope.

At the end of the same turn as the shakes, Gold Corath rose one final time. Amazingly, the little brown Enlilleth actually tried to chase. He lost to Perone’s blue Wrath, which was just fine for Shona. She didn’t want to be Weyrleader anyway, not really. At least it was a woman that was now Weyrleader, things were starting to change. Shona knew that it would bring even more unrest, but that was okay. Times were changing, and unnecessary traditions needed to be abolished. This was an example of someone else heading in that direction. So she and Enlilleth worked harder than ever to prove that they were just as capable as any of the ‘normal’ brown pairs that had died in the earthshakes.

It turned out only one egg was laid by the old Corath, and at the Hatching that egg turned out to be a green. This green, named Truth, Impressed to none other than the young man named S'tar. To Shona this was great, yet another move in the right direction. Maybe there was hope for people to accept her after all, or at least accept her dragon’s color. Imagine her surprise at the Hatching Feast when Perone named her the new Weyrlingmaster. Shona was nearly speechless with the shock, something that didn’t happen to her often. Some of the other riders were annoyed at this promotion, but Shona just tuned them all out. She, the too-curious girl from a small hold near Igen, was now Weyrlingmaster at Last Hope Weyr, under a woman Weyrleader and a man Queen Rider.

It was quite amazing for Shona to be training the new Queen Rider. S'tar needed to be taught just like any other Weyrling, and as the new Weyrlingmaster, Shona did her best. At first she was a bit hesitant, but she gained more confidence the more she did. By the end of S'tar’s Weyrlinghood, Shona felt quite ready to train the next batch of Weyrlings as soon as they came. In the nearly 3 turns since, Shona has done her best to prepare for Truth’s eventual clutching. Now that it has finally happened, Shona is as excited as the Candidates for the eggs to hatch. She’s both frightened and excited to see how she does when teaching a whole class of Weyrlings.

Even with all had been going on Shona used what spare time she had to learn the basics of most crafts. It all started while she was a Candidate at Southern Weyr. For her many turns here she had nothing to do but learn as much about the various crafts as she could. She still loves to learn, and so she does so whenever she can. She’ll ask willing crafters to show her how to perform their craft. She is by no means excellent in one or the other, but she does know a bit. While she waits for Truth’s first clutch to hatch, she continues her need to know as much as possible.
 

DRAGONRIDER INFORMATION
Dragonrider Rank: Weyrlingmaster 

Dragon Name: Enlilleth

Hatch Location: Southern Weyr

Age: 7 turns

Color: Brown

Physical Description: Enlilleth is 42 meters long from nose to tail, 6 meters tall at the shoulder, and has a wingspan of 47 meters. Essentially, Enlilleth is about as small a brown as they come. He is a dark brown, looking sort of like dark chocolate. Enlilleth has large headknobs for his size, but they are only slightly too large. His claws are also a little on the large side, but again it’s only slightly. At first glance he looks like a regular small, dark brown. It’s only on close inspection that one sees the too-large headknobs and claws. The claws mean that he can cling to the ground well and that he can lift things that are larger than you would expect for his size. Enlilleth is muscular as well, keeping himself in excellent physical condition.
 

Personality: Enlilleth has a somewhat deeper masculine need to fly female dragons than most browns. He chases all the time, as often as possible. In fact, Enlilleth even chased Corath on her last flight. He lost to Wrath, but then he hadn’t been expecting to win. He just had to chase her; he just had to try. Had Enlilleth had a different rider, he probably would have been an extremely masculine dragon, and that is it. As it is, having Shona as a rider has tempered his masculine need to spread his seed.

Enlilleth actually forms real friendships, well draconic friendships, with female dragons. He gets that the more contact with them is best. He understands female dragons better than most, partly because of his constant contact with Shona. He gets that the greens can flit like crazy even if they don't really mean for him to win their next flight, and he goes along with it and pays attention to females that are flirtatious. He will go with their flighty moods as opposed to ignoring the parts he doesn’t like or understand.

Beyond his mating habits and friendship with other dragons, Enlilleth tends to be an excellent teacher. He was calm when talking to Truth and explaining maneuvers or concepts. He will repeat himself as much as necessary, expecting as much perfection as Shona does but is willing to work as hard as the Weyrling to achieve that perfection. He can hold concepts in his mind for long periods of time, though he will probably forget the details within a day or so.

Enlilleth loves Shona, and can’t imagine why anyone would think their pairing was wrong. It took awhile, but he finally does understand that there are those that aren’t happy with their pairing. He understands that they have to work extra hard, and so he does it. He and Shona are in constant contact, constantly helping each other out when needed. With the two of them paying attention to what’s going on, they can fix their mistakes much quicker, or at least that’s Shona’s though and Enlilleth agrees.

Even when they aren’t practicing, Shona and Enlilleth are constantly talking to each other. Enlilleth is one of the only friends Shona has, and he knows it. He loves her no matter what others say, and is constantly telling her how great she is. And she goes to him when she has a problem. They can’t always help each other out, but they can at least listen to each other.